Dr. Kenneth I. Gross Selected AMS Inaugural Fellow

The American Mathematical Society (AMS) has initiated a Program of AMS Fellows and has announced the 2013 Inaugural Class of Fellows. According to the AMS announcement, the Fellows of the American Mathematical Society program recognizes “members who have made outstanding contributions to the creation, exposition, advancement, communication, and utilization of mathematics.”

Dr. Kenneth I. Gross, Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics has been selected as an AMS Inaugural Fellow, and will be officially inducted into the Fellows of the AMS Program in early January at a ceremony in conjunction with the 2013 national mathematics meetings in San Diego.

In the words of AMS President Eric M. Friedlander, “The AMS is the world’s largest and most influential society dedicated to mathematical research, scholarship and education. Recent advances in mathematics include solutions to age-old problems and key applications useful for society. The new AMS Fellows Program recognizes some of the most accomplished mathematicians -- AMS members who have contributed to our understanding of deep and important mathematical questions, to applications throughout the scientific world, and to educational excellence.”

“Our College is proud of this prestigious recognition that places Dr. Gross among national leaders in the mathematical sciences from universities around the world,” said Bernard “Chip” Cole, Interim Dean of the UVM College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS).

“I am both humbled and honored to be recognized in this way, and to be in such august company,” said Dr. Gross.

Gross has twice served as Program Director at the National Science Foundation, once in Research and once in Education. His research publications in group representations, harmonic analysis, and special functions total over 1000 pages, and he is the editor of three books. In addition, he has initiated many educational programs including The Vermont Mathematics, Science, and Technology High School Summer Institute (now designated as the Governor’s Institute in the Mathematical Sciences) and the Vermont Mathematics Initiative (VMI) which has been highly influential in raising student mathematics achievement in the elementary and middle schools of Vermont. The VMI model has been utilized in eight states, and the Little Rock (Arkansas) and Cincinnati (Ohio) School Districts have adopted VMI for their mathematics professional development.

Other Awards and Recognition

Gross has received the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching, the Chauvenet Prize, and the Lester R. Ford Award from the Mathematics Association of America, as well as the University Scholar Award and the George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Member Award from the University of Vermont.